Part 2:

Hostel came out in 2005, and we should remember the director was also very young, 26 i think. Remember that for people this age, they’re really coming of age in an era where 9-11 is old news, the idea that people hate america and americans is old news, and the world, especially eastern europe, is perceived as very frightening, very anti-american. Being an american student abroad isn’t friendly any more. I know many people who have sewn canadian flags onto their equipment because they couldnt handle the reflexive hostility they got for being american.

Hostel expresses that. Remember that it’s part of the plot that the torturers in question pay more for an American. They want Americans. Because Americans are perceived both as more valuable and as more worthy of torture. So I’d argue that the Hostel series expresses the anxieties of being American and young in a world increasingly hostile to Americans.

And it’s also about sex and the fear of it, as it’s sex that lures the guys there in the first place.

Saw was originally an aussie short film (9 minutes), later developed into the full length we know and the franchise.

My belief is that the torture porn genre expresses not much other than our increasing desensitisation to violence.